• Netherlands
    1986 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses

    • THE STRENGTH THAT MADE IT POSSIBLE TO ENDURE

      When the 1942 service year began, the branch office was in Amsterdam, and printing was done there too. The branch servant, Brother Winkler, had till now been able to elude the Gestapo, but they had viciously beaten brothers in their determined efforts to track him down. On October 21 the Gestapo made a routine check at the Eikelenboom printery in the old section of Amsterdam when The Watchtower was on the presses. Here they must have learned where the literature was stored. Moments later they barged into the building being used by the brothers. And there they found Brother Winkler.

      They danced with glee and exulted: “Ha! Ha! We’ve caught Winkler.” With him were Alois Stuhlmiller and courier Wilhelmina Bakker. All were arrested, and everything was confiscated.

      For over a week the Gestapo tried to get Brother Winkler to cooperate with them by divulging information. They told him it was useless to fight for a bankrupt cause. They assured him that the ones betrayed would not be told who had done it, and that they would not be beaten but would be given a stiff warning to mend their ways and work for the cause of the führer. They promised that he could better his lot in life. But on November 1, when brought in for questioning again, Brother Winkler squarely told them that they should not expect him to cooperate. At that, one of them pulled the curtains shut and turned the radio on full blast. Then the merciless beating began.

      Brother Winkler was beaten into unconsciousness. When he revived, they sneered: “So, we did not expect you to be so unreasonable. One who has proved to be a good organizer and intelligent, one who was such a good fighter for a bankrupt cause, should have more sense. We need people like you. Just think how you could improve your lot in life. Tell us where your wife is, and we give you our word of honor she will not be beaten. If you are smart and go along with us, you can exchange your prison for a villa and your condition of shame and revilement for one of honor, money, and prestige.” Brother Winkler gave no reply. Then the second round began.

      First it was the Obersturmführer Barbie, and when he was tired Oberscharführer Engelsman took over. Finally Brother Winkler lost consciousness again. This continued from one o’clock in the afternoon till midnight. Calling to mind Jehovah’s promises to help his servants gave Brother Winkler strength to endure. At 1:00 a.m. he was handed over to the prison guard. Teeth knocked out, lower jaw dislocated, and body beaten raw, he was taken to a dark cell. ‘Do you know why I am bringing you here?’ the guard asked. ‘Because they could not get anything out of you. They think this type of treatment will break you. But I will let you have light and something warm to eat.’ Brother Winkler thanked Jehovah for the victory.

      Days passed. Slowly Brother Winkler recovered, but he was exhausted. As he thought ahead to the next interrogation, on November 10, he wondered what would happen and he sought Jehovah’s guidance by means of prayer.

      “At this point I felt a great need for spiritual food,” Brother Winkler later recalled. “A couple of days later this same friendly prison guard came up and asked if he could do something for me.” Evidently Brother Winkler trusted the guard to some extent, because he asked the man to procure a Bible for him from Sister Winkler.” “Yes,” the guard said, “write a note. I will bring you a pencil and some paper.”

      “The day of November 10, 1941, I will never forget,” Brother Winkler continues. “The door of my cell flew open and someone threw a pocket Bible into the cell; and before I realized what was going on, the door slammed shut again. What a joyful occasion! The Gestapo did not permit me to have any reading material at all, and now, by Jehovah’s undeserved kindness, I had a Bible to read. What a joy it was daily to enjoy the pleasant words of truth from His Word! Although any reading had to be done secretly, I felt myself getting stronger spiritually.”

      Finally, he was sent to the Vught concentration camp, and then to Sachsenhausen. There he was plagued with one illness after another. Normally he would have been gassed and cremated, as was done with others. But due to the kindly care of a Swedish doctor, Arthur Winkler stayed alive to see the march to freedom.